It can be useful when you're out and about in Paris to have a printed guide in your bag. (You don't want to carry around too heavy a book, so we include each guide's weight in our reviews.) We've used a lot of Paris travel books over the years, and we've reviewed dozens of others that didn't really make the grade. There is a veritable river of travel guides out there — it's hard to tell from the publisher's blurbs how to compare one with the other. Worry not — here are our takes on the best of the Paris travel guides, with a few notes on what not to buy.

Four Useful to Really Good Paris Travel Guides

No longer rough, the editors have polished up the latest edition of the Paris edition and produced what is now our favorite printed guide. It's filled with useful information about the things you want to do, such as museums hours and neighborhoods of interest.

The color maps and photographs are reproduced beautifully on the polished paper used for the guide. And, there are plenty of those maps that will help you explore the areas that interest you. Nicely filled out with historical tidbits and unusual places. While you probably won't want to carry it around in your bag, it's a good tool to reference before you head out each day. Our #1 pick.

If you want to really see and thoroughly experience the historic sights, monuments and museums of Paris, this is the only book to get. The Michelin Green Guide to Paris thoroughly covers virtually every museum, every attraction, every building you will want to visit. There are detailed maps of the major museums with discussions of art, artists, architecture and schools of painting.

There's a short but useful section of practical information, good maps, and even suggested walking itineraries. The Michelin Green Guide to Paris is about the only guide of this weight that we would carry around with us — it's that useful!

You know us well enough by now to predict there was going to be a restaurant book in our list of best Paris travel guides, and this is it. Michelin is our top favorite restaurant guide for Paris and for France. This is the annual version that focuses in on the city and leads you to the best bistros, brasseries, and cafes — including the 1-, 2- and 3-starred restaurants. It's the one we most often consult when we're mapping out our restaurants, and it's the only guide that's important to French chefs. The maps are superb and all reviews of the to restaurants include photos. Mind you, it is in French, but it's not at all difficult to figure out what they're saying !

Rick Steves' Pocket Paris

The last entry in our Useful to Really Good Guides list is from Rick Steves. Immensely popular, good value, always updated, and filled with useful tourist tips. We're not so keen on the footstep-by-footstep approach to sightseeing often found in Steves' guides. Adhere to this too strictly and you tend not to look around you, notice the life of the city, or follow other interesting paths. Paris, we always tell our readers, friends and guests, is meant for meandering. Even so, this is a safe if predictable choice.

Three Paris Walking Guides

This is one of the few walking guides we like and that's because it has a great theme — walking in the footsteps of famous Parisians. It takes you to the haunts of Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Picasso, up to Edith Piaf's neighborhood of Belleville, and even to the favorite restaurant of Napoleon. In doing so Forever Paris leads you into fascinating areas of Paris that you are unlikely to discover on your own.

City Walks: Paris Card Set

From the same author is City Walks: Paris, a set of 50 cards, each with its own Paris walking adventure and map. It's great to stuff a few of these in your pocket when you're heading out to a certain arrondissement.